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Keeping your motivation is a daily goal that is all about finding something that works for you. No one gets motivated by the same thing so it should be one of your priorities to find out what really keeps you going and making sure you have plenty of it. For starters, here are some general tips that might help you out.
- Learn with friends: Learning with friends or in a
group of people is a great way to stay motivated. Not only everyone
is sharing the same obstacles and problems (which means you can give
each other tips and possible solutions) but everyone can help each
other to stay motivated.
- Imagine you are already there: Imagine that you can already speak the language fluently,
watch a video of someone speaking it and think it is you. Think about all the things you will do once you master it and how good it will feel not only to get there, but the whole process as well.
- Make it a work of love: What does this language mean to you? Maybe you've always wanted to be able to speak in a language you believe sounds great or maybe you just need to improve your skills for your career. Whatever it is, put it in terms of how much it means to you, how every minute spent working on it is improving your life and taking you towards your goals.
Learning a language is not unlike any other potentially successful enterprise. It takes more time, energy and effort that you originally thought it would and success never comes overnight. A lot of people are very enthusiastic about learning a new language (or any other skill for that matter) but when they finally realize how much is really involved, or hit their first major obstacle, the motivation seems to disappear in a Puff of smoke.
This is a very frustrating experience and one that many people struggle with. It also comes as a surprise to most people: one moment you are excited about starting that Italian course New York City that you've been wanting to do for years, the next one you just want to call it quits and watch some TV. This is also the case for some students of some immersive language programs, perhaps you are attending a great English course New York is loads of fun, but still you don't want to open the exercise book or work on your vocabulary.
As it worst, lack of motivation also gives birth to a self defeating circle: you hit a major obstacle on the road to your goal, you feel like it's harder than you thought it was (you are putting a lot of effort and getting less results than you imagined), this makes you frustrated which in turn makes it harder to move forward... and so on.
Motivation is a key skill to learning a language. It is the fuel that burns constantly and keeps you from saying "I quit!" and makes you say "I can do this! I will do this!." Except for certain unfortunate exceptions (I'm talking about actual biological disabilities here) we all have the ability to learn, but it takes a motivated and focused individual to get from the starting point to the finish line. Even if it sounds simple when laid out like this you need to be aware that there is much more to our minds than the part that we are conscious of, and it is not strange for us to set the path for actual defeat when we feel like that in our minds. Losing our motivation is one of the worst obstacles you can face in your road to language mastery. Without your motivation you get nowhere, it is quite literally the fuel that will make you achieve your goal.
Spanish Language Immersion Schools Links
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